Jack Buck is a perfect example of style and substance. With super-clean aesthetics on physical releases and an almost too-pretty-for-punk-rock appearance, the band is secretly kinking your IV line, adding air bubbles to your blood stream. Jack Buck does the noise-rock thing perfectly, with intelligent arrangements that would make bands like Unsane and the Jesus Lizard proud. Vocalist Colin Webb's calculated-yet-reckless delivery stands out without taking away from the stringent riffs. JB's newest release, Soft, comes on a clear seven-inch record with two new songs that show an incredible advancement from an already stunning debut. If you like rock & roll in any form, you would be a fool to not immediately purchase this record.
-Kenny Snarzyk

The inclusion of a "Post-Hardcore" division in this year's awards is the cleanest categorical fit for the platypus of a band that is Sine Nomine. Experimental? Yes. Metal? Sort of. Noise? To some. Punk? In a broad sense, yes. Americana? The argument could probably be made. But the concept of being rooted in hardcore and progressing beyond sounds most like Sine Nomine's forte. The band recently announced a break from shows, which would be a bummer for fans of a less ambitious band, but the last time this happened Sine Nomine returned with two albums that seemingly materialized from the ether with the specific intent to crush skulls.
-Ryan Wasoba